Scientific Explorer Crime Catchers Science Kit

Overall a great kit. I bought it for my daughter's 11th birthday. She enjoyed working on it with her 8 year old brother. Definitely needs a parent to help set up and to keep the "answer" sheet hidden from the kids. I read reviews before purchasing so I knew to open the kit ahead of time and read through the instructions and gather extra supplies (rubbing alcohol, piece of fruit and tape). The only thing this kit was lacking was enough citric acid. You need a total of 4 tsps according to the directions and only 2 tsps were included in the little packet. If I would have realized that ahead of time I could have just used about 1/2 tsp for each part and still have gotten the same results. The best part in my opinion is that it's a one time use kit- nothing to store or clutter up your house!

I loved doing the first of the 2 included mysteries with my daughter (age 7) and my nice (age 8) on a weekday morning-- the whole process took less than a couple hours. My daughter wants to be an investigative scientist and this was the best kit I could find out there! I took off 1 star just because the product needed a couple small tweaks-- the parent instructions should have told you at the beginning to freeze the rubbing alcohol for 30 minutes (we had to wait when we came to this step), and there was an unfinished/unprinted sentence at one point in the guide. Also, the test tube didn't come with a holder so we had to sit there holding it for 10 minutes and were a bit disappointed with the attempt to discover DNA (it's possible it was also because the rubbing alcohol only froze for 20 minutes!) But honestly, a DNA project for elementary schoolers? SO AWESOME! I LOVED the idea and the girls had a blast. It all came with a fun story and the materials included were complete and well-labeled (the items we needed from our house were very simple, like tape, scissors, ruler, fruit etc). I would definitely consider this as a gift or buy it again.

This kit is a really fun activity for kids to solve a mystery using forensic science. It has two different mysteries and each one will probably take somewhere between an hour and an hour and a half. I used them with my Girl Scouts and they had a really good time with them. There are enough materials to solve each mystery once, so I put together kits for the girls with extra materials, most of which are easy to come by.The kit covers chromatography, observation, DNA extraction, some basic chemistry with citric acid, measuring, fingerprinting, testing for acid/base, etc. It has some supplemental activities for kids to try as well. My girls are 4th graders and it was the perfect age for them. They needed some help/guidance, but did most of it on their own. Younger kids would definitely need more help. There is a lot of reading and instructions to follow and some of the steps messed up all the girls. I can imagine slightly older kids having fun with it, too. Maybe up to 8th grade. Older kids might enjoy some of the experiments, but it probably won't provide much of a challenge, and the mysteries have results that are completely unrealistic. Even my girls rolled their eyes.This would make a nice gift and is perfect for an afternoon or two of exploration, especially if you do some of the supplemental activities. It contains almost everything you need, but you will also need strawberries, rubbing alcohol, dish soap, and water.

This is a really great kit! Super lesson on isolating DNA (though you need to have a strawberry or tomato or similar fruit). BUT when I bought it in 2017 it was $13. if it is less than $20 I would recommend buying it. Current prices are over $30. I don’t think it is worth purchasing at that price.

We got this for our almost 11 year old granddaughter who is interested in forensics for Christmas.I opened the box, took out all the contents and read through the entire book. I wanted to make sure it was age-appropriate and to see what supplies were not included (as indicated in the reviews). I also highlighted some important steps so she wouldn't miss them.My first picture shows what came in the kit and the second shows the items I added to the kit. I didn't want her to have to stop and go hunt for stuff. A trip to the Dollar Store took care of most of it. The citric acid can be picked up at Walmart, Amazon or possibly Michael's. I also labeled all the items for her.She hasn't worked through the "cases" yet, so I'll try to update once I hear from her about her experience.I gave this three stars for "giftable" and "value" because of it lacking so many items. I gave it four stars because, after reading through the entire manual, it appears to be age appropriate.

It was fun to do with both the 4 year old and the 8 year old grandkids. They loved it, especially the treasure map. It would be great to do in science class as well.

Bought this kit for homeschooling and used it with two boys (8-9 yrs old) and they had a blast solving the crimes. Nearly everything is provided in the kit with only maybe 3-4 things that you need to provide yourself. The kit does require adult involvement to lead the activity. It took us about 2.5 hrs to go through both mysteries.For those who are in Cub Scouts, we used this to cover the Forensics loop for the Bear rank. It literally covers everything for that rank.Only 1 downside was that it doesn’t provide any small kits to take your own fingerprints but that stuff can be easily purchased separately.If you want to reuse the kit you would have to repurchase some supplies but most can be easily found in your local grocery store (baking soda, flour, citric acid, coffee filter paper). Only science item you would need to get would be Ph strips.Overall this was a really awesome STEM product and was rather easy to follow.

I was looking to re purchase this until I saw some poor reviews that made me want to review now! My daughters and I had a lot of fun with it particularly my 6 year old. My 9 liked the detective but where she could guess whose the culprit. I love it this way rather than as a series of instructions to follow through as science experiments (which is a lot of the science kits out there)

It was fun for my granddaughter, but it is a one-time event. It has several components, but can only be played one time and cannot be repeated.

Y realmente no tiene mucho de científico, la niña se sintió estafada que las respuestas estaban en la otra hoja

Very misleading! My daughter asked for a spy kit for Christmas and was sadly disappointed on Christmas morning when this was nothing more than a skimpy board game. Complete rip off and over priced!!